International News
Europe close: Stocks drop as Trump ramps up trade war rhetoric; autos under pressure
European stocks ended in the red on Friday, with the auto sector pacing the decline as US President Trump ramped up his trade war rhetoric.
Ryanair cancels 24 flights due to pilot strike
Irish airline Ryanair was forced to cancel 24 flights on Friday as a quarter of its pilots went on strike over pay and work conditions.
US open: Stocks rise but dollar tumbles on Trump comments; Microsoft rallies
US stocks edged higher in early trade on Friday as Microsoft rallied on the back of strong results, while the dollar tumbled against its major rivals after President Trump ramped up his trade war rhetoric.
May calls on EU to 'evolve' position over Ireland border
UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday urged the EU to axe its "unworkable" plan for the Irish border after Brexit, accusing the bloc of inflexibility on the issue.
Whatsapp limits message forwarding to combat fake news
In a move to battle the spread of fake news and spam, Facebook-owned app Whatsapp said it would impose limits on how many groups a message can be sent to after rumours sent via the app led to numerous lynchings in India.
Apple Watch and FitBit could be hit with Trump's tariffs
The Apple Watch, FitBit and other accessories assembled in China could be affected by the latest round of US tariffs on $200bn of Chinese products, according to government filings.
Microsoft beats forecasts as cloud service booms
Microsoft beat Wall Street forecasts for the fourth quarter as more businesses bought its cloud computing services and the latest version of its Office software.
Trump 'not thrilled' about Fed rate hikes, threatens China again
President Donald Trump took the unusual step of explicitly criticised the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates and the potential impact on the US economy, as well threatening to hit China with a new wave of tariffs.
US pre-open: Stocks seen mostly lower as Trump says he's ready to hit all Chinese imports with tariffs
US futures pointed to a mostly weaker open on Wall Street on Friday as President Trump ramped up his trade war rhetoric, although Microsoft was set to boost the tech sector after solid earnings, while General Electric also looked poised to rise on the back of well-received earnings.
Comcast is 'likely' £26bn victor in Sky bidding war
Comcast is thought likely to be the new owner of Sky after the biggest US cable TV company pulled out of a battle to buy Rupert Murdoch’s Fox entertainment empire.
Asia report: Most markets higher as renminbi touches one-year low
Most markets in Asia ended a turbulent session in the green on Friday, as traders digested rare criticism of the Federal Reserve from a sitting US president, and renminbi briefly touched a one-year low.
CLX Communications sees sales rise significantly in first half
CLX Communications issued its first half results for the six months through June on Friday, reporting a 36% improvement in net sales to SEK 1. 86bn, with organic growth in local currency reaching 17%.
Telia Lietuva profits rise as it rolls out new LTE television tech
Telia Lietuva issued its interim report for the six months ended 30 June on Friday, reporting a 1. 6% decline in total revenue to €93. 1m for the second quarter.
Roche clears FDA hurdle with Alzheimer's testing products
Roche announced on Friday that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted ‘Breakthrough Device Designation’ to ‘Elecsys beta-Amyloid (1-42) CSF and ‘Elecsys’ Phospho-Tau (181P) CSF.